Incumbent school board trustee Sharel Warrington sees an "exciting" next few years for public education in Prince George and wants to be a part of it.
First elected to the board in 2005, Warrington is seeking a third term on the board.
"We are moving into exciting times, very exciting times," Warrington said. "Education is taking a new shift into really supporting our students and creating those opportunities to meet the needs of those students who've really been minimally meeting those expectations.
"They get by but they could be challenged more if we could be more innovative and flexible with our programs, I really believe that."
Now retired, Warrington was a teacher in Prince George for 30 years at both the elementary and secondary levels. Warrington said she also worked on district committees throughout that time, particularly relating to professional development.
On school board, Warrington is perhaps best known as chair of the finance committee. The position meant facing a big share of challenges, she acknowledged, as trustees found themselves closing schools to make ends meet in the face of declining enrollment.
"The primary challenge in 2010 was our financial situation and we did address it and now we're in the rebuilding mode so that's what's exciting," Warrington said.
"Certainly, there are going to be challenges, both financially and in terms of providing more innovative, flexible opportunities for our schools to grow their educational programs.
"But this next board will certainly have a different mandate than we had when we came in in 2008, but we are on a good footing and the district has made those decisions that we needed to make."
In addition to sitting on the school board, Warrington is the vice-chair of the B.C. School Trustees Association (BCSTA) education committee, is a member of the Prince George literacy advisory committee and is the education representative for the BCSTA's northern interior branch, which recently held a "very successful meeting."
"We discussed all the major issues and worked through strategies we know trustees need to address in the coming three years," Warrington said.
Warrington, who declined to give her age, is the mother of two sons and one daughter, all grown up now, and the grandmother of five children.
